Our country is reeling from the public announcement of the horrific scandal rocking Penn State because of the alleged sexual abuse of young boys by one of their well-known coaches. Though this reportedly happened years ago, because people turned their eyes away and never followed through on getting to the truth, we are learning of this tragedy over a decade later.
My heart is heavy, and I pray for those young men who were helpless boys when they were sexually abused by a sick, powerful man whom they trusted. And no one seemed to care.
One of the now assistant football coaches, who was then a graduate student in his 20s, testified that he saw the coach sexually abusing a young boy in the shower. What kept him from rushing to the aid of that helpless boy and going to the police with what he witnessed? Was it fear of getting involved? Fear of what might happen if he did the right thing? Even though he reported it to someone, it never went anywhere.
Was that because of money and the millions of dollars football at Penn State brought to the university?
What kind of a country are we becoming? We are a nation founded on biblical principles. God’s Word was a plumb line for our culture: our laws, behavior, entertainment, literature, art, education, science.
But we began to turn away from the truths of God’s Word and to do whatever was right in our own eyes.
In the words of the late Dr. Adrian Rogers, pastor of one of the largest churches in Memphis, TN, “We live in a world where tolerance is the new religion. But just because we blur the lines between right and wrong does not mean they are fuzzy to God. There are some irrefutable, absolute truths, and we need to keep a clear view of them and rely on God’s yardstick, the Bible, to measure right and wrong in this day and age.”
Because “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”; because “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” because all of mankind is lost and headed for hell if our sin debt is not paid, Jesus came. He died in your place and mine.
God tells us, “Whosoever shall call upon the Name of Lord shall be saved.”
What a wonderful promise! And, Dr. Rogers again: “There is no one so bad that they cannot be saved; there is no one so good they don’t need to be saved.”
Rae Piepho
Lutsen
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